Dispensing device



Oct. 2, 1945. J. N. WOGNUM DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Jan. 3Q, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 2, 1945. J. N. WOGNUM DISPENSING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 30, 1942 1NVENTOR.

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Patented Oct. 2, 1945 DISPENSING DEVICE- James N; Wognum; Chicago; Ill., assignor-to Acme Stecl- Company, Chicago, 1 11., a corporation of Illinois.

Application January30, 1942,.Serial No. 428,829.

5' Glaims.

part of the spring, tomovebodilywith respect to another part,,.without. bending or. flexing the spring at a predetermined. point inthe normal operation of the spring .as, for example, after a predetermined portion of, a coilspring hasbeen unwound. For. illustration, such a spring. may be used advantageously in connection with. the. seal feeding mechanism of, a strap sealing deviceof the type disclosed in the United States patent of Ralph H- Norton No. 2,097,955, dated November 2, I937, and'in. the copending. application of William C; Childress and JamesM. Royal, Serial No. 310,276, filed fDecember21; 1939, where a pillrality of metal channel-shaped seals are stored insuperimposed relationship in a magazine and are fed in" succession from that magazine to a sealing devicebya movable plunger, the seals beingnormally retained: in' the magazine and moved to the "seal feeding positionlby a retaining member which is preferably spring-actuated, so that it'efiectsa positive-movement of the seals independently of the force of gravity. As disclosedin said application, the seal retaining member is controlled initsmovements by a coil springand when it is desired to place anew stackof seals in the magazine the retaining memberisremoved temporarilyirom the open end of the magazine and positioned alongside the magazine while at the same time bending-the connected spring in a-direction opposite to that in-which the spring is: normally-bent when it is coiled inposition within the .retaining member. It has been found inpractice that it is diflieultto place the. :retainingrmemberim a position at the sideof the magazine: to permit the insertion ofthe. seals and thatLthe-spring tendsto crystallize and break off due to the reverse bending of it.;about an .edge of themagazine when the retainingmember is so. withdrawn.

An important object: of. the present invention is therefore. to providea dispensing device .for sealsorthe like comprising.a,-..spring havinga hinge connection which: will permit one-part:- of the spring to be. readily-swun outxthe-remaim ing portion thereof, afterthe, spring has been partially uncoiled. A further object is to provide astrap sealing devioe comprising. a-m-agazine forreceiving "metal .seals to'be-fed therefrom in combinationwith. aseal moving member actuated by a spring coiled on a trunnion carried. by said member and. having. itsouter end attached t a. partwhich is fixed. with respect to themagazine, the .coil. springbeing. provided with a hinge connection. between its parts and at. a. point spaced from the fixed end. of. the springin. such a manner that after the, spring has been partially uncoiled the hingeconnection will be located. at. an edge of .the. magazine about, which the remaining coiled portion .of thespringand the seal moving member maybeswungto a position at the side of the magazine. to. permit the insertionof a stacker seals. Another object is to provide a device. comprising relatively movable machine elements .one. of which hasmounted g thereon a coil. sprin provided with a hingeconnection between its ends, the. outer extremity of the spring being attachedto another part, of said device. so. that saidpartsmay have free relative movement after a predetermined uncoiling. oithe spring hastaken place. Other objects relate to Various. features of constructionand arrangement which will appear'more fully hereinafter.

The nature of, the. invention will be. understood from the following specification taken. with the accompanying drawings. in. which one embodiment is, illustrated. In. the drawings,

Figure 1v shows .a perspective .view of a flat spring embodying the features. of a part ofthe present invention andadapted to. beiwound in a, coil, portions, of said spring being-brokenaway;

2 shows. .a side elevation of the sealmagazine. and associated partsof a strap sealingdevice including .thevimprovements. of the present invention. with parts. thereofbroken away and illustrated in. vertical section, ,the. sealretaining member beingshown withdrawn. from the magazine and swung to aposition alongside thereof as, permittediby .the; hinge connection. which is embodied in the actuating spring;

Fig. 3. showsa verticalseotion taken onthe line 3+3 'of ig. .8, illustrating the seal retaining memberwhen it. isin. its normal. position in the magazine. wherein it is, adapted to. move the. seals downwardly to. the seal feeding. position;

Fig.4 shows, a..detailed sectional view taken .on the. line 4 .4.,o f Fig. 2.;

. Fig. 5.sho.ws a. detailedsectionalview takenv on the.l'ine-.5'...5.oi Fig. 2';

Fig. 6 is a perspective, view of one of the seals which are stackedin superimposed relationship. in the magazine shown in Fig. 3.;

Fig. 7, isa perspective view of theseal retainin member whicliisadapted toslide vertically inthe magazine Fig. 8. is a vertical section taken on theline B B.;of Fig. 3.; and

Fig. 9.. is a. sectional view. taken: on the. line. 9+9 of Fig. .3;

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, there is shown a flat steel spring l embodying the features of the present invention andconsisting of a flat band comprising one part lil which may beof considerable length and which is provided at one end with a transverse flange adapted to be inserted I, 7 through a slot in a trunnion or the like .upon,...,

which the spring may be wound into the form of a spiral coil. At its other, end, the part [this adapted to be connected with another part iii. through a hinge connection formed through an .is'held securely in position between the jaws after 'beingied thereto by the plunger IT. A pair of springs 30 serve normally to retract the actuating me'mber 23 and to separate the lower portions of elongated wire loop I l, the parallel sides of which, 7

pivotally engage the eyelets or beads Hi which are formed on the ends of the parts it and H]? of the spring. The end portions of these parts of thespring are preferably cut away at'theiri'lateral edges adjacent the loop H, as shown at Hi so that the length of the'connecting loop I I will not be greaterthanthe width of the body portions of the spring. The part l0 of the spring may be looped, as shown at I and the bent extremity is united to the body of this part of the spring by a the jaws, as shownin Fig. 9, so that they are in readiness to receive a seal between them.

The feeding of a seal to a position between the jaws of the head or sealing device I5 'is effected when this sealing device is in its elevated position rivet [2, thus providing an eyelet which will perinit this part of the'spring to be connected at its free end to a part of the machine or other device in which the spring is incorporated. When the spring iswound in the form of a coil,'the part H3 is adapted to be wound as a continuation of the part we and'after a partial unwinding of the coil the part Ill and any machine element connected thereto may be swung bodily with respect to-be'stacked in superimposed relationship in a magazine 14 a'ndto be fed therefrom successively to 'a strap sealing device I5 which is shown particularly in'Figs. 3 and 9. The magazine extends upwardlyfrom a frame IE on which it is mounted and the lowermost seal in the stackjis adapted to be fed from the magazine to the sealing device l5 byya seal feeding plunger I! which slides in a guideway formed in the frame [6 and which moves through openings in the opposite side walls 'of the magazine M, as shown inFig. 3. The seals l3 are of channel form havinglregistering openings] It in their backrwalls which permit a stack of seals to be temporarily secured together by a wire or the likeprelimin'ary to being placed in the magazine, and overlapping'side'walls I3 'which contact with 'eachiother asshown in Figs. 3 and 8 and space the back walls of the seals apart. This permits a projection l'l on the upper edge of the forward end of the plunger l1 to'overlie the back wall'of the lowermost seal of the stack when the seal feeding plunger is actuated by the lever arm I8 to move this seal from the magazine to a position betweenthejaws' I9 of the sealing device. These jaws are mounted on'pivots extending between the side platesZl of the sealing head which is adapted to be moved bodily in a vertical direction alongside the magazine l4. Between the side plates ofthe head there is slidably mounted an actuating member 23 which is'pivotally' connected at 24 to apair of links'25 which have their other ends pivotally connected at 26 to the upper arms of the jaws l9. Whenthe'actuating member 23 is moved downwardly, the links serve. to spread the'upper arms of the jaws apart,'thus closing the lower parts of thesejaws upon each other to ben'd the sidewalls l3 of a seal which is positioned be: tween the jaws and retained by the'projecting exas shown in Fig. 3 and, after the seal hasbeen inserted, the sealing device I5 is moved bodily downward to position the seal'overthe overlapping ends of a strap 3! which may be passed around a box or package to be reinforced thereby V and which has one end portion 3P seated upon a base flange l6 of the frame of the machine. After being placed around the box or package with the end portion 3W held by a gripping device (not shown), the supply portion 3l of the strap is placed in position to'be held by other gripping devices, including the gripping dog 32, and, after the strap has been drawn taut, it is cut off" from the source of supply by means'not illustrated, but which may preferably be actuated by the initial downward movement of the head i5, so that when the headreaches the". limit of its downward movement the seal I3 carriedby the jaws will bepositioned upon the overlapping strap ends. The means for .movingthe head I5 bodily downward is not illustrated but, after this means has been'actuated, to place theseal in position on the strap ends,fthe' plunger 23, is moved downwardly through the ,a ctuationof' a pinion 33 carried by the head andarranged to mesh with rack te'eth23? formed on the plunger. This causes the jaws l9 to be actuatedt'o bend the'side walls of the seal about andbeneath the overlapping strap ends'and shearing dies embodied in lth'ejaws then shear, the lateral edgesof the seal. and the enclosed strap ends and defiect portions'thereof adjacent the cuts which are thus formed',.thereby providing an interlocking joint.

tion'where they may be engagedbyjthe feeding plunger ll, upon theforward movement of this plunger, toward the right as viewed-in Fig. 3, the

magazine His equipped with aremovable re-,

tainer or-follower 35 in theform of a blocklof rectangular cross; sectionwhichfits loosely with the "correspondingrectangular chamber, of the removed from thehead li. withfa vertical slot 35 in the wallsqof which: there is mounted. a

trunnion 36 in the form oflajsplit pinadapted to and which engages a shoulder35 to holdthe pin against rota'tio'n The semicircular extremities; 36? of the pin areadapted to be spread apart 'to' hold the pin in place after-'it has-been inserted.

Having 'pla'ced thetransverse-flange 10 of'jthe' Spring in engagement with th Slot Oftl'ie p in"0rin orderthat the superimposed seals I; in the magazine l4 maybe moved successivelyto; a positrunnion 36, the spring is wound in spiral fashion thereon and the eyelet Ill, previously described, is secured in place at the bottom of the magazine I4, adjacent to the plunger H, by a pin 31. The wall of the magazine I4 is provided with an opening M to receive the eyelet Ill and adjacent parts of the spring and the wall is further slitted at the sides of this opening I4 and parts of the metal of the magazine wall are bowed outwardly to form two loops M which act as bearings for the pin 31 when this pin is inserted endwise through these loops and through the eyelet i as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The pin 31 is pointed at one end, as shown at 31 and is provided with two annular grooves 31 which register with the loops M when the pin is fully inserted. The tension of the coiled spring l then holds the pin upwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, with the upper parts of the loops M engaging the grooves 31 so that the pin is then securely held against endwise movement.

With the foregoing arrangement, the spring I0, attached to the lower part of the magazine and being normally coiled upon the trunnion 36 carried by the retainer or follower 35 when the follower is in the magazine, serves to supplement the action of gravity in moving the member 35 downwardly so that it presses upon the upper end of the stack of seals I 3 and moves a new seal to the feeding position when the feeding plunger I! is restored to its normal position after a feeding operation. When all of the seals in the magazine have been used and it is desired to insert a new stack of seals, the operator engages the handle 35 and pulls the member 35 out of the magazine while at the same time extending the spring I0 and unwinding it from the trunnion 36. As the member 35 is withdrawn through the mouth of the magazine, it is tilted laterally over the upper edge of the magazine and the spring l0 then extends through a slot I I which is formed in the wall of the magazine in vertical alignment with the opening M As the member 35 swings over the edge of the magazine, it is inverted in position and the coil spring automatically pulls the member 35 in its inverted position against the side wall of the magazine as shown in Fig. 2. With this arrangement of the parts, the hinge connection I I in the spring is located at or slightly above the edge M of the slot or opening I4 so that the extended portion of the spring between the hinge connection II and the eyelet ll! lies flat against the side wall of the magazine and does not interfere with the insertion of a stack of seals. When the seals have been inserted, and the temporary connection between the seals removed, the member 35 is again placed in the magazine, by reversing the process just described, whereupon the spring ID will again act to hold the member 35 against the uppermost seal in the stack and to force the seals successively downward to the feeding position where they are engaged by the feeding plunger I1.

Although one form of the invention and one of its uses have been shown and described by way of illustration, it will be understood that the invention may take various forms and have various adaptations without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, an open mouth receptacle having a dispensing opening therein and adapted to contain a plurality of stacked articles, a member adapted to engage the endmost one of said articles in said receptacle, and a normally coiled spring connected to said receptacle and to said member arranged to press said member against said article engaged thereby to force said articles toward said opening, said spring having a hinge connection therein adapted to be located at the edge of said mouth when said,- spring is partially uncoiled and the coiled portion thereof removed from said receptacle.

2. In combination, an open mouth receptacle having a dispensing opening and adapted to contain a plurality of stacked articles, a member adapted to engage the endmost one of said articles in said receptacle, and a flat spring normally wound in a coil, said spring having one end attached to said receptacle and the other end attached to said member, said spring comprising parts which are hinged together at a point removed from the place of attachment of said spring to said receptacles, distance substantially equal to the distance of said place of attachment from an edge of the receptacle about which the spring may be tilted when partially unwound and upon removal of said member from said receptacle through said open mouth.

3. An elongated receptacle adapted to contain a stack of superimposed articles, said receptacle being open at one end and having an outlet removed from said opening, a follower mounted to slide in said receptacle and to engage one end of said stack between said outlet and said open end, and a normally coiled spring connected to said follower and having its outer end attached to said receptacle at a point such that said spring is adapted to move said follower toward said outlet due to the tension of the spring, said spring comprising two parts hinged together at a point removed from said connection with said receptacle to permit said follower and the body portion of said spring to be swung over an edge of said receptacle when removed therefrom.

4. In combination, an open mouth receptacle adapted to contain a plurality of stacked articles, said receptacle having an outlet through which said articles are adapted to be discharged, a member occupying normally a position in said receptacle and engaging the endmost one of said articles, and a normally coiled spring carried by said member with one end thereof attached to said member and the other end attached to said receptacle, whereby the tension in said spring causes said member to move said articles toward said outlet, said coil spring having a hinge connection therein to permit said member and the major portion of the coil to be swung laterally over an edge of the mouth of said receptacle upon partially unwinding the coil.

5. In combination, an open mouth receptacle havinga dispensing opening and adapted to contain a plurality of stacked articles, a member adapted to engage the endmost article in said receptacle, a flat spring normally wound in a coil and having one end attached to said member and its other end fixed with respect to said receptacle, said spring having a hinge connection therein at a point more removed from said attached end than from said fixed end to permit said member and the major portion of said coiled spring to be swung about said hinge when removed through said mouth.

JAMIES N. WOGNUM. 

